Swindle and cheat Republican predator (6)
I believe the answer is:
condor
'predator' is the definition.
(condor is a kind of predator)
'swindle and cheat republican' is the wordplay.
'swindle' becomes 'con' (con is a kind of swindle).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'cheat' becomes 'do'.
'republican' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'con'+'do'+'r'='CONDOR'
(Other definitions for condor that I've seen before include "Large bird of prey" , "Large vulture of S America" , "Large bird of the Andes (national symbol of Peru)" , "Andean vulture" , "Largest New World vulture" .)